Crimson Moon: Part Four
By: SalrAnime
No need for intros, I hope you like it blasé bla...normal disclaimers apply.
Darien awoke from his slumber two hours late for school, but instead of raising from his bed, he knocked the alarm clock into the adjacent wall.
"I have too much stuff on my mind to worry about school right now" He said while snuggling deeper into his sheets. Serena's scent of strawberries and honey lulled him into an almost instant slumber that was interrupted by Shukoroshi.
"I guess you aren't getting up today" He said almost feeling sorry for the young boy before him.
"Shukoroshi!? What are you doing here, I thought you were watching Serena!" Darien jumped out of bed in a panic.
"I was but..."
"Forget about it, I'll go" He said angrily. If anything happened to her.....
"Darien..."
"How could you let her go off alone!?"
"He won't attack her today!"
Darien stopped, and turned to Shukoroshi.
"Why won't he?"
"He'll know we're watching her, he won't want to get into another struggle so soon, and he's weak right now"
Darien laid back down on the bed feeling calmed, and tried to sleep again.
"I'm going back to sleep then"
Shukoroshi chuckled slightly.
"You say you don't love her, but you're so willing to fight for her.
"I...she's more like a kid sister to me"
"If you find your kid sisters attractive, then I guess you have more to worry about then just what's going on now"
Darien sighed.
"You know what I mean"
"No I don't, I've loved her for over a millennium, and I've only been in her presence a few times...it must be hard for you to control your feelings around her, when you don't understand what you're feeling"
Shukoroshi left Darien on his bed wide awake starring at the ceiling, thinking. Would he ever actually think of a sister as blindingly beautiful?
"Serena, have you heard on the news?"
"Heard about what, Molly?"
"People all over the city have been found with their blood drained completely from their bodies"
"Yeah Serena, they've found five bodies in all, the police think it's some kind of serial killer, but they can't figure out how their blood's completely drained, I think it's aliens from another world doing test on us humans" Melvin popped up from nowhere as usual, scarring Molly and Serena with his familiar annoying voice.
"SHUT UP, MELVIN!...Anyway, he's right about everything except for the alien part"
"Five people dead...."
Molly looked at her friend with worry.
"Serena, are you ok, you just got so pale"
Serena turned to her friend and put on a fake smile.
"I'm fine Molly"
Molly knew her friend was holding back something, but she smiled back warmly knowing that whatever it was, Serena would be OK.
"Hey, Luna!" The black cat turned to see her old friend Artemis running towards her.
"Artemis!"
Luna and Artemis had become closer over the years that the scouts had been inactive. Without the scouts having their memory, they had no one to talk to but each other.
"Luna, have you heard about the murders happening around here?"
"Yes, do you think it could be the nagaverse?"
"I don't know, I don't think so though, the negaverse always took energy, not blood"
"Do you think it could be a new enemy?"
"Yes, but whatever it is, we shouldn't awaken the scouts yet, they're so happy now, we should know for sure what it is before we awaken them"
"Yes, you're right...but....Serena didn't come home last night"
Artemis was shocked. She was normally always home by 10pm. What could she possibly have been doing?
"Where was she!?"
"I don't know, but something's happening..."
"It may have been nothing, I mean she is getting older, maybe she just felt like staying out"
"Until five in the morning!?" The white cat's eyes got huge.
"FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!...I see what you mean..."
"Her parents didn't notice, she sneaked back in the house before anyone was awake...she seemed preoccupied, she was thinking pretty hard about something"
"Thinking!? Serena?...it must be pretty serious..."
When Serena got out of school, she immediately made her way to Darien's apartment, she wanted to ask him some questions. She was startled when a black cat jumped from a fence onto her shoulder.
"OH!...Luna, what are you doing here?" Serena asked surprise to see her black kitty.
"MEOOOWW" Was Serena's reply.
Serena smiled and continued her way to Darien's apartment. Luna was confused 'were is she going, she normally meets with the girls at the arcade after school' by the time they made it to Darien's apartment, Luna was even more intrigued. 'Did they get their memories back!?' Luna was shocked to see a man with dark hair and green eyes answer Darien's door when Serena knocked.
"Shukoroshi, Where is..." Serena began, but cut her question off abruptly as her eyes met with the most intense dark blue she had ever seen. His eyes engulfed her. There was no explanation! It was like she was in a trance. Actually, Serena almost panicked when she realized she WAS in a trance. What was he doing to her?
"Serena..." Was she in a trance? Darien looked deeper into her eyes, feeling like he may be able to know all her secrets if he only searched a little deeper. Darien suddenly pulled away when he began to become aware of an intense hunger growing inside his body. It was like a thirst that only she could quench, but he would never hurt her. Serena shook her head as if to clear it, then began to question Darien as if nothing had just happened.
"Darien, do you know anything about the bodies they've found around the city?"
Luna was surprised that she would ask Darien, 'Darien...what would he know about it!?'
"No, I hadn't even heard about it, you don't think that...I"
"I...I wasn't sure, I mean I didn't think so, but.... "
'Would they stop talking in code!?' Luna thought in aggravation.
"It's my brother, in order to survive, he must feed his hunger" Shukoroshi looked at Darien, and followed his gaze back to Serena.
"Darien, are you OK?"
Serena looked up at him and saw how hard he was breathing. He was staring at her intently, like he wanted to devour her. He looked like a drug addict that just saw his next fix, and it scared her.
"Darien...?" She asked in a timid voice.
"Serena, leave" Darien stated the command softly, as if trying to keep himself from loosing control of....something.
"Darien, are you .....? " She took a concerned step towards him, and he stepped back as if she was an approaching inferno.
"He's right, you should leave" Shukoroshi stated flatly, while taking her hand and leading her to the exit. Serena looked at the two men puzzled.
"Darien what's..."She took her arm from Shukoroshi's and began to once again make her way to Darien's side when he suddenly yelled at her.
"Serena, NOW!" She jumped at his booming voice and left his apartment without another word. Once she was gone, Darien fell to the couch in his living room, holding his head in his hands.
"I told you...the thirst controls you" Shukoroshi felt a deep pity for the man that sat weekend before him.
"So what do I do about it?" Darien needed to know what he could do to control his hunger. He never thought it would be so intense and difficult to control himself. But the way it burned in him...it was so intense. Since he has been alive, he had never felt a passion so intense burning inside of him. Tasting her was the only thing that would put out the fire that burned inside of him, he knew it, and at that moment he understood, he was a danger to Serena. Shukoroshi pulled the same flask he had the day before out of Darien's refrigerator, and handed it to him.
"You drink...that's the only way to end it. "
"Where are you getting this from?" Darien touched the cool metal of the flask as he eyed Shukoroshi suspiciously.
"It isn't hard for me to sneak into blood banks, it isn't blood from those five people if that's what you think"
Darien looked at the man satisfied by his answer, and drank in large gulps from the flask given to him. The rich liquid disgusted and satisfied Darien at the same time, but he couldn't understand why he still burned for the small blond that had been in his apartment earlier. Even despite the satisfaction of hi thirst, he could still feel a fire deep within that wanted no one else's blood but Serena's.
"I can't do this forever, I'll kill myself before I live like this"
"There is a way to reverse what he's done"
"How?"
"In order to lift the curse, you must kill the one that passed the curse onto you"
"So if Shigo dies..."
"You'll become human again, and I will finally find my peace in death"
Luna was not satisfied, she knew something was going on, but since nothing solid was said, she wasn't sure what was going on. 'I swear I've seen that Shukoroshi person somewhere before' the feeling of familiarity was relentless as Luna sat perched on her owner's shoulder. Serena walked to the arcade, determined to work away some of her stress on a video game.
"Hey, Serena" Andrew gave Serena an award winning smile as she entered the arcade.
"Hi, Andrew" Normally, Serena would have been ecstatic to see him, and even though his smile did make her feel a little bit better, she just wasn't as satisfied seeing him as she thought she would be. Andrew must have noticed; he walked to the game next to her, and sat down across from her.
"So, what's going on?"
"Nothing much, I'm just..." (sigh)
"Serena what's wrong?" Andrew frowned feeling concern for the small girl next to him.
"Nothing's wrong, really" She put on a fake smile again, that slowly faded into surprise when Darien walked into the arcade. Andrew noticed the change in her expression and smiled.
"Has Darien been teasing you again? " Andrew asked suddenly feeling protective of the girl. He knew his long time friend could sometimes be a jerk, but to this girl he always managed to be in rare form.
"No....not exactly " She stared intently at her lap, being afraid that if she looked at Andrew, he would see how sad she really was. Serena was surprised to hear Darien's voice as he said hi to his old friend Andrew and began to make his way towards the two of them. Andrew walked over to Darien when he waved to him, meeting him halfway.
"Hey, Darien, what's going on?"
"nothing really, it's just.....is she ok ?"
"Who do you...OH! She's fine! " Andrew realized he was speaking of Serena. " Andrew couldn't believe Darien was actually concerned for Serena, they hated each other!
'I never thought I could worry about her like this' Darien thought to himself. He couldn't stop watching her, but she wouldn't look at him. He knew it was on purpose, and for some reason he took it as a challenge, he would make her look. Darien was mentally startled at the intensity of his private challenge. 'What is happening to me'
"You should talk to her" Andrew interrupted his thoughts.
"What?" He asked as if coming out of a daze.
"You should go talk to her, something's going on between you two, and I'm not sure what it is, but whatever it is it's about time it happened"
Darien looked at his friend embarrassed.
"What do you mean!?"
"It's been three years since you two first met, and ever since then you haven't gone on a date with another girl, you haven't talked to another girl, I haven't even seen you look at another girl for more than a second since you met her, Mina and I always used to joke about you two getting together but..."
"Andrew, it isn't like that, it's more complicated"
Andrew smiled as he walked away to help out a new customer.
"Yeah, I guess you two are arch enemies...right?"
Darien asked himself that question over and over again, but he couldn't think of an answer. He watched Serena as she left the arcade, without saying a word to him, and he followed close behind her.
"Why won't you talk to me?" He asked genuinely hurt.
"Why did you kick me out?" She turned angrily to face him. She was already scared and confused, the last thing she needed was for the only man she trusted to turn on her.
"Serena..."
"Is it because you killed those people?"
He froze for a moment, and caught up to her stopping her where she stood, both hands on her shoulders.
"I never killed anyone" He stated sounding more angry at her accusation than he meant to.
"Then why are you OK? You're a vampire now, you gotta eat don't you?"
Darien looked into her eyes, trying to find why she was so angry at him.
"Why are you trying to hurt me, I don't understand."
The question left Serena speechless, she had no answer for him. She just didn't want to get to close to him, he was already jerk, and now....he was dangerous. Even more dangerous to her if she let herself forget just what he had become.
"You know I wouldn't hurt anyone, but you're still trying to make yourself distrust me...why?"
"You...why did you just kick me out like that?"
He was afraid that the truth would make matters worse, so he lied.
"I had to talk to Shukoroshi about something, he didn't want you in the room"
Darien began to feel guilty when he realized that his coldness had hurt her. 'Why do I care?' She rose her eyes to his, and his met hers' back. They said nothing. Darien began to become aware that he was once again searching Serena's eyes for a secret she didn't even know she held, once again putting her into a trance. He suddenly released the trance, what he was doing was wrong and he knew it.
"What?...that's the same thing Shukoroshi..."
"I'm sorry, I don't know the extent of my powers yet, I didn't mean to"
Darien hated being able to feel her on so many levels. He could hear the rapid beating of her heart and her soft quickened breathing. He could smell the perfume of her body all around him, but those weren't the worst things. For that brief moment that they had been locked into each others gaze, he could feel what she felt; the warmth of something new bubbling up inside of her, a tingle that seemed to cover her whole body when he touched her. It drove him crazy to feel what she felt...
"Darien" He was startled to hear Shukoroshi behind him, starring at them from a distance.
"I'll walk her home tonight, you just go back to the apartment and get some rest" He was thankful to be away from her for a moment. She was becoming like a drug to him.
Darien nodded, and nodded again when Shukoroshi whispered in his ear as he walked passed him.
"Remember what I said about getting too close"
"Serena, are you ready to go home?" She glanced briefly at Darien before nodding her head yes.
"Yeah...yes I'm ready"
Serena turned and watched as Darien left for a moment before turning back around and following Shukoroshi to her house.
"What just happened between you two there?" Shukoroshi asked referring to the five minutes Serena and Darien spent starring at each other like they were in some sort of trance.
"Nothing...I don't know..." Serena answered, unsure of what had happened herself.
"Well, you may want to be a little more careful around him"
"What do you mean?"
"Did he tell you why he kicked you out today?"
"He told me you two had something to talk about in private...was he lying to me? "
"......I suppose he felt like he was protecting you from the truth" Serena stopped walking. 'What was the truth?'
"Then why...why did he make me leave?" Shukoroshi sighed loudly, momentarily hesitating, wondering if he should tell her the truth. He finally decided she needed to know.
"His senses are all heightened, he can sense everything about you, your emotions, your scent, your heartbeat......it's like he's a master hunter now"
"Hunter?"
"He kicked you out because the thirst was taking him over...he wanted..." He was trying to find a tender way to tell her she was in danger when she was with him, but....
"I don't want to hear anymore" She abruptly cut him off, and began to walk away, not wanting to hear more, but Shukoroshi needed her to understand.
"Serena, it isn't his fault" She turned to face him, to stop him from talking, but it didn't work.
"You have to understand, he has no control over it"
"I don't want to talk about it anymore, OK?!" Tears were once again forming in her eyes and Shukoroshi softened at the sight of her pain. She had heard enough for today.
"OK, how was school today?"
Serena smiled
"I don't want to talk about that either"
He smiled at her, feeling the warmth that she had always made him feel come over his heart again. They spent the rest way talking about pleasant things that took them away from the reality of what was happening around them.
Darien sat up in his bed when he heard Shukoroshi come back in.
"Did you get her home OK?"
"Yes, she's fine just a little stressed" Shukoroshi sat on the plush suede sofa and began to watch TV, being around her always exhausted him for some reason.
"I think I scared her today..."
"She's fine, she just shouldn't be that close to you anymore..."
"Did you tell her...why I made her leave"
"Yes"
Darien sighed loudly and stretched out next to Shukoroshi on the sofa.
"It's probably better that she knows the truth..."
"It's better this way, she knows not to entice you now"
"She didn't...entice me, it's just...that....I can feel everything about her, and it drives me insane. I've never felt another human so intimately" He just couldn't take it anymore. This whole thing was a nightmare, all he wanted was to have the little annoying blond that he always swore he hated. Was this even really how he felt, or was just because of what had happened to him? And did he really want her, or just her blood, which if he took, would end her life forever. No, it would never end that way, he would kill Shigo and take back his humanity tonight. Then she would be safe.
"Shukoroshi Where can I find Shigo? " He was already getting dressed, and looking for whatever he could use as a weapon around his apartment.
"I'm not sure...why?" He had an idea of what Darien was thinking, but he couldn't possibly be that crazy.
"I'm ending this tonight" Shukoroshi laughed at Darien's declaration. He is that crazy.
"You couldn't possibly..."
"I'm serious!" Darien raised his voice, not wanting to hear that he was completely insane.
"Darien, if you leave to fight Shigo the way you are now, you'll die" Darien said nothing, he stood where he was for a short while, then walked out the door.
"I'll find him myself" Shukoroshi stopped him at the door.
"You're too weak"
"Get out of my way" Darien pushed Shukoroshi aside, only to be grabbed back by inhuman strength.
"I said you're too weak" Darien pulled himself away, but was struck to the ground by Shukoroshi's fist. Darien rose again and hit Shukoroshi knocking him into a nearby wall, and ran from the apartment. He didn't know where he was running to, but he didn't stop running. He always had control over everything that happened in his life, but now he felt completely powerless. He kept running aimlessly when he saw Serena's hair out the corner of his eye. He turned and watched her running towards his apartment. He followed her until he caught up with her.
"Serena?" She turned around slightly startled, and stopped running falling into his arms. He didn't move, he just stood there feeling the warmth of her body on his chest. He began to feel wet warmth soaking through his shirt.
"You're crying...why?" He was suddenly worried about the young girl in his arms. He forgot all about Shigo, nothing mattered to him now but her.
"I...I don't know what to do, I'm so scared, Darien" He looked around at their surroundings and began to guide her back to her house. It was getting late, and it was unsafe for her to be out on the streets past sunset. When they reached her house, she opened the door and invited him inside, he walked in reluctantly.
"Where are your parents?"
"My mother went out of town with my father on a business trip, Sammy's upstairs asleep"
She sat down on a couch across from the TV holding herself tight. Darien leaned on a wall next to the door.
"I shouldn't be here..." Serena looked up at him pleadingly, she didn't want him to leave.
"Darien, don't...leave me " She knew what Shukoroshi had said, but for some reason, she just couldn't accept that Darien was capable of hurting her.
"I won't leave, not just yet...I don't think I could if I wanted to"
"Why...what are you doing out so late, where were you going?" Serena asked softly.
"Me!? I can take care of myself, where were you going?"
Serena looked down at her hands.
"I wanted to see you..."
Darien looked at Serena, stunned by her honesty...and her beauty. He was starring at her now...her long blond hair falling next to her thighs like two silken ropes of gold, her cheeks pink and tear stained from crying. She was shivering slightly from a fear he wished she didn't have.
"Serena, are you afraid...of me?"
She looked at him again, his eyes locking with hers'.
"I...I don't...know..." Honestly, she just wasn't afraid of him, but she knew she knew she should be. However, some unknown reason, her inability to say "no" hurt Darien more than any of the physical pain he had gone through in the last few days.
"I should really go" Darien was turning the door handle when Serena's hand, placed gently over his, stopped him.
"Don't go" One thing she couldn't lie to herself about was that she did feel safe only with him. Over the past few days, Serena realized that one thing, in the whole mess of what was going on, remained stable...Darien's urge to protect her. She knew that she should let him go, even fear him staying, but she couldn't, she felt safe with him. He turned to face her, unsure of why he wouldn't just leave. Her morning sky blue eyes grabbed his midnight sky eyes, and they didn't let go.
"Serena...I don't know what's happening to me, but I have to leave, now" She looked away, releasing him from her spell.
"What if something happens tonight?" She said in a panic, trying to find any reason to get him to stay.
"It won't your inside, he can't get in your house unless you invite him in"
She chuckled sarcastically.
"The rest of the myths turned out to be false, so why is it that he can't just walk in?"
Darien looked away from her. He knew he should have already left her house.
"He doesn't know where your house is"
"He found me before...what if he followed us while we were walking back"
"I would have noticed"
"What if you didn't?"
Darien became slightly angry that she would ignore the danger he could put her in, and as coldly as he could, he stated the danger he represented for her.
"...I could kill you Serena, I could snap at any moment, and drain you completely, why don't you want me to leave!?" She looked almost frightened for a moment, and he felt a small victory, maybe now she would make him leave.
"...I feel safer when you're close to me..." His heart skipped. What has it he was feeling from her, fear, comfort, and something else...it was that warm feeling again that he didn't understand. Did she even understand it?
"...It isn't safe for me to stay here, you said it yourself, and you don't know if you're afraid of me"
She looked down at her hands, Darien could see the teardrops splashing on her tightly clasped fist. And he gave in.
"Just tonight...I'll stay" Anything to make her tears stop. She still didn't look up at him, but she was obviously pleased. She went upstairs, and returned with sheets, and a blanket.
"I'll set the sofa bed up for you"
"Let me do that" He took the bedding from her. She stepped aside, and watched him. She didn't know why she had wanted him to stay so badly, but she knew it was more than the fact she felt safe with him...there was something, more.
"Hey, meatball head, quit looking so sad, I'm staying!"
She smiled.
"It seems like a thousand years since the last time you called me meatball head"
"Everything'll work out, then I'll forget your name again and you'll be meatball head once more"
She smiled wider, and Darien smiled, pleased that he had lightened the mood a little. Serena yawned loudly.
"Are you tired?"
"A little"
"Go to bed, I'll be here...I won't leave"
She smiled again, and nodded her head.
"You promise you'll be here in the morning?"
"I won't leave until you tell me to"
"OK, if you need me, my rooms the first one the right, can't miss it, nothing but pink and bunnies "
"OK, goodnight" He smiled at her attempt at joke.
"Good night" She went up to her room, leaving Darien to his thoughts. Something was going on between them, he knew that much, but he wasn't sure if it was real, or if it was because he was a vampire. Shukoroshi had told him that all his senses would be heightened, and it wasn't until that happened that he began to want Serena so badly...thirsted for her so badly. But, everything about her made his heart jump, she was kind and caring, gentle and giving, even her childishness made him want to be close to her. And she was beautiful, he never would admit it to himself before, but he was attracted to her, since the first day he saw her he didn't want to take his eyes away.
"I just need rest..."
Serena couldn't stop thinking about him. He was such a jerk at times, but he could be so sweet. He protected her, even when he knew he couldn't win. She petted the cat that was sleeping at the foot of her bed.
"Is this what love feels like, Luna?"
Luna purred in response.
"Nah ...I still think he's a jerk. "
She laid in bed with her eyes closed trying to sleep. She sat upright when she heard a noise in the corner of her room. She looked in the direction of the disturbance, relieved when Darien stepped from the shadows.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you"
"I wasn't asleep, you just startled me, that's all"
"I couldn't sleep either, so I thought I would come up here and check on you"
Luna watched them with one eye opened, not moving from her spot on the bed.
"You couldn't sleep?"
"I wasn't really tired"
"Oh..."
Serena, on impulse, reached her hand out to him, and he took it reluctantly. He walked to the side of her bed, still holding her hand, and kneeled down next to her bed with his cheek on the pillow next to hers. Luna was confused. 'What's Darien doing here? And what is that strange energy that's coming from him, it's not his normal energy'
"Lie down with me?" Did she really just ask him that!? What was going on with her!?
"I shouldn't, I shouldn't even still be here" He knew he should think her question was odd, but he heard her mind think it even before she said it, he knew it was coming. Then there was the fact that he himself came there wanting to sleep with her. Darien wanted to hold her, making her feel safe enough to fall asleep in his arms, but he didn't trust himself. She reached out her other hand and brushed a dark strand of hair from his forehead.
"Please...I feel safe in your arms" She stroked his cheek gently, feeling like everything was just a dream, she was acting so unlike herself. He closed his eyes at the touch of her skin against his, and nodded without opening his eyes. He climbed into the bed next to her, and pulled her close to his body, holding her tightly in his arms. He heard her sigh softly as she cuddled closer to him. Within minutes, they were both fast asleep.